The present invention relates to an implant holder for body implants, such as an artificial bladder, insulin pumps, a pacemaker or a drug capsule.
Implants to be implanted into the bodies of human beings or animals frequently require an access to be provided for the implants to be exchanged, the contents to be replaced or the implants to be serviced. Normally such implants possess a housing made of material tolerated by the body, to which the body cells grow in the course of time. Thus the body tissue is attached to the implant capsule. If this implant capsule is to be taken out, the body tissue must be removed first. Further, some implants require a holder which ensures that they are retained in place in the body. Such a holder for a prosthetic bladder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,074. The holder comprises bandages which are fixed to the peritoneum or the musculature and retain the prosthetic bladder.
The object of the present invention is to create an implant holder which allows implants to be exchanged, if necessary, in an easy manner without any essential stress to the body.
The implant holder according to the present invention comprises a screen to which the body tissue grows from one side whereas the other side comprises a contact surface for the implant. This contact surface is preferably smooth and tissue-rejecting. In this way a kind of pocket or nest is formed subcutaneous in the body, which accommodates the implant without the tissue completely growing around the implant. The screen further comprises a holding fixture suitable to retain the implant to the contact surface. Since implants are generally positioned immediately beneath the skin, the implant is accessible and removable through a simple skin incision without the implant adhering to the body or being retained in the body. The implant is accessible with the patient being locally anaesthetised. Thus a general anaesthesia is not required as is normally the case when the implant must be separated from the body tissue.
The screen comprises a contact surface on the side facing the implant and a layer of tissue-compatible fibre material, preferably a velours material, on the outer surface. A suitable material for the smooth contact surface is a smooth silicone foil. Silicones are tissue-compatible and the smooth foil impedes growing of the tissue to the foil.